Freedom
by xStephanie.Raex
Summary: [Contains Sparrabeth] A few days before getting married to William Turner, Jack Sparrow shows up and ruins her wedding. Elizabeth has been faced with a choice, Will or Jack?
1. Chapter 1

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This story is dedicated to my good friend Anna. She has inspired me to start writing, and not to mention getting me to love Sparrabeth. So, this is for her. Thanks Anna!

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**FREEDOM**

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth darling, wake up." Governor Swann said, gently shaking his daughter's shoulders as she lied asleep in bed. "William is here to see you, he's brought you something." He said, smiling. Even though Will wasn't as proper as James Norrington, he was still a good man.

Elizabeth opened her eyes, sitting up slightly and rubbing the back of her neck. What was Will there for? "Alright, I'll be downstairs in a minute." She whispered to him, still half asleep.

"Good. I'll tell him you won't keep him waiting long then." Governor Swann said, smiling brightly and then heading out the door and down the stairs.

Elizabeth groaned tiredly and stood up, walking towards her dresser. She sat down in the chair in front of it and stared at herself for the longest time, desperately wanting to just go back to sleep. While searching through one of the drawers, she pulled out a brush and started to comb through her golden hair. What could Will have brought her? That was all she had been thinking about as she pulled on a slightly loose fitting dress, she never was too fond of corsets after falling in to the sea and nearly drowning. But it had been alright because Jack had saved her…Jack. Now that was someone she hadn't seen in a while. Though she often found herself wondering where the captain was. Finally after dressing herself, she stood up and slowly descended down the staircase.

Will stared at Elizabeth, his lips pulling upwards in to a smile. "Good morning, Elizabeth." He said in a gentle voice. She was so beautiful, he was more than glad that she belonged to him. They were getting married very soon, in about three days actually. "I've brought you something." He said, digging in to his pocket and pulling out a small box.

Elizabeth stood beside Will now, "Good morning Will." She said, then glanced down at the box in his hand. Thoughts ran through her head, wondering what it could be. She hated this, having to pretend to love Will as much as he loved her. The truth was she didn't even want to stay here in Port Royale, get married and have kids, she wanted freedom. "Oh, you didn't have to." She said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Don't be silly, I love you." He said, then opened the box and revealed a ring. It had a gold band, and a shiny diamond in the middle of it. Will grinned up at her, wondering if she'd like it.

"Will, it's beautiful!" she said, forcing the best smile she could, grabbing it and sliding it on to her finger. "Oh, I love it!" she said excitedly. Will could be so sweet at times, yet she had no idea how he could get such an amazing ring…and she felt terrible for accepting it.

"I'm glad you like it. It's an early wedding gift." He smiled at her, gently grazing the back of his hand along her cheek. "I've got to go, I have some things I have to take care of back at the shop." He said. "I'll come back later, alright?" he asked, slowly retreating towards the door.

"Okay," Elizabeth said, still in amazement as she stared down at the ring on her finger. After Will had left, she felt sort of empty. Deciding she needed to go out and get some fresh air, she pulled on her jacket and walked out the door. Sometimes she wondered if she would be truly happy with Will, if he could give her everything she wanted, but then she only thought of herself as being selfish. One of her fingers twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger as she walked through Port Royal, humming a song and sighing in relief to get outside. Yet when a few men dressed in red coats rushed by cocking their guns, she stood and blinked, wondering what was going on. She swiftly followed after them, careful not to be seen or one of them would surely escort her back to her house. Elizabeth ducked behind a barrel and watched, there was a man on one of the ships…trying to commandeer it by the looks of it.

After a few more moments of watching carefully, she realized that the man was the infamous, Captain Jack Sparrow. All of the sudden her breath was snatched away and her heart sped up in an instant, she had to stop him…well maybe that was just her excuse for going down there to see him. After all it had been awhile since they last saw each other.

Jack looked drunk, he was stumbling around and shouting out orders, but the soilders had grabbed him, along with the crew and pulled him off the ship. Jack was shouting at them angrily, jerking and yanking away from them but they only tightened their grasp and snickered as they walked towards the jail.

Elizabeth stood there and watched him pass in amazement, their eyes even met for a split second. She froze, holding her breath even though she didn't know it.

Jack's jaw fell open at the sight of her, though it looked like he was trying to say something, he never did. He just stared at Elizabeth over his shoulder until he disappeared in to one of the buildings to be thrown in the jail.

"Elizabeth?" A voice said behind her, "What's wrong?" It was Will. He slid his arms around her waist and held her close. "Come on, we've got to get you back home. It's getting cold out here, don't you think?" he asked, starting to pull her back towards her house.

Elizabeth was speechless. Did that really just happen? Was that really Jack she had just seen a moment ago? It didn't matter. She was getting married soon, no need to worry about some dirty pirate.

The next day came quickly, Elizabeth had dreamed about Jack the previous night. She was unable to stop thinking about him. She had to see if that was really him in the jail, she had to talk to him. Elizabeth pulled on her jacket and brushed her hair before running down the stairs and out the door. Luckily her father and the maids were still asleep, so they wouldn't realize she had left.

Once she arrived at the jail, she snuck past the sleeping guards and spotted a man in one of the cells. He was sleeping, his hat pulled down over his eyes. He looked handsome, and oddly familiar.

It _was_ Jack.

"Jack?" she choked out, kneeling down beside the bars. "Jack, is that you?" she whispered. Of course she knew it was him but she just couldn't believe it.

Jack lifted his hat up so he could see, and when he noticed the woman talking to him was Elizabeth he jumped. His face fell, he hated her for being here. It was like she had ripped open a wound that had already healed, Jack had feelings for Elizabeth. But once she was engaged to the whelp he had buried those feelings, and she had just brought them back for coming here to see him. "Aye, it's me." He said quietly.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had the Pearl! Why did you need to steal a ship? Are you alright?!" she asked, gripping the bars tighter. He looked miserable for some reason, and she bit her lip. Elizabeth had sort of…taken quite a liking to the captain. Well before, and it sure didn't seem any different now.

"Well, darling." He began with a sigh. "Damn Barbossa and his crew, took me ship…again." He rolled his eyes. "I'd explain it to ye but it's awfully long." He grunted. "Good news is I have to sit and wait in here fer' two more days before they hang me." He said. "Too bad they took out all the benches, aye?" he chuckled, remembering what Will had shown him about the half barrel hinges.

"Two days? That's when I'm getting married to Will." She said with a smile. Instantly it faded, "Oh…that's right." She mumbled, looking away. She seemed disappointed by that.

"Really?" Jack asked, his voice shown no emotions. It didn't show the hurt and sadness he was feeling. "That's…wonderful, love." He said. "I'm glad for ye." He lied, tearing his gaze away. It wasn't fair, he wanted her! Will didn't diserve her! She wasn't a governor's daughter, she was a pirate!

Elizabeth slowly stood up, "Jack." She said, a question had come up in her mind. "Can I ask you something? And do you swear to tell me the truth no matter how embarrassing, or how badly you don't want to?" she questioned.

Jack was curious now, "Aye, I promise." He said, not sure if that was in fact, a safe promise but he decided to do it anyway. He sat there patiently and waited for her question, pondering over what it could be.

"Do you have feelings for me?" Elizabeth asked, biting her lip. "I mean, _did_ you?" she rephrased her question. Elizabeth wanted to know, because she was almost positive she had feelings for him.

"Well love, it's sort of a long story." He said, trying desperately to change the subject. Jack refused to tell her he had feelings for her, it just wasn't his personality. Jack Sparrow wasn't supposed to fall in love and there was no way she'd get him to admit to it.

"Well, you've got time. It doesn't look like you're going anywhere for a while, right?" Elizabeth asked with a sly smirk. She sat down and leaned back against the wall, looking more comfortable and ready to listen to this 'long story'.

"Oh, right." Jack said, laughing innocently. "Well, Lizzie." He began, wondering where to start. "I uh…back then, I did have some…feelings for you." He said with disgust. "Ever since I first met ye', I well, adored you. I suppose." He grunted. "You were perfect, a pirate. I thought ye' were me long lost twin er' somethin'." He laughed. "I liked ye' a lot, Lizzie." He whispered. "But then ye' killed me…with a bloody kiss. I thought you really liked me, I thought you realized you wanted a man over a whelp and you were finally coming to your senses. But you killed me, and now you're marrying the whelp." He told her. "So yes, I still have feelings…" Jack squeaked. "I mean I _did_ have feelings for you." He corrected quickly. That was a damn lie! He still had feelings for her! He had thought about her every day for the past ten months they hadn't seen each other.

"Oh, well thanks." She said quietly, then stood up. "I'll think of a way to get you out of here or something tonight. I've got to go." She mumbled. She couldn't believe what she had heard. Jack did have feelings for her long ago, she could have had him over Will! Elizabeth rushed up the stairs and out the door, making her way home.

The rest of the day went by terribly slow. Mostly she lied in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for night to fall. Her father had even thought she was sick, but she insisted for him not to worry. Will had even come by to see her, but her father told him she wasn't feeling to well. She even slept most of the next day, the day before her wedding.

Elizabeth sat up, staring at herself in the mirror. She couldn't marry Will. Lying in bed that long and just thinking had made her realize that, she wasn't in love with the blacksmith, with the respectable man. But with the pirate locked up in that jail cell.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the night before the wedding day and tomorrow everyone in town would probably attend her wedding. There was her father, James, the townsfolk, the soldiers, everyone…not to mention Will. The only person that was expected at the wedding, that wouldn't attend, was Elizabeth.

She had been writing a letter, though she wouldn't give it to Will, she imagined her father would find it and tell him the bad news so she didn't have to. At least she wouldn't have to see his pain or look at him when she told him that she no longer had the feelings she once did for him. Poor Will, he'd suffer through tomorrow and be miserable for quite a while, wouldn't he?

Elizabeth had also been planning when to break Jack out of jail, and that was tomorrow, during the wedding when everyone was there…waiting for her to arrive. But where would she be? Freeing a pirate from his cell and then running off with him.

While opening the doors to her closet, Elizabeth pulled out her wedding dress and slipped out of her clothes, then pulled the dress on. She straightened out the wrinkles and fixed her hair, staring at herself in the mirror and forcing a smile. Tears filled her eyes, knowing she was about to make William Turner's world completely fall apart wasn't the most comforting. So she wanted to make sure this was what she really wanted.

"Hi. My name is Elizabeth Turner, I'm very pleased to have met you." She choked out, a tear rolling down her face. She didn't want to stay here and have kids, she wanted adventure, she wanted freedom! Elizabeth Turner just didn't sound right to her.

"Hello, my name is Elizabeth Sparrow." She said, and a smile slid across her lips immediately after doing so. She loved how that sounded, but she also knew that Jack was never the type to settle down and get married. She was just fantasizing what she wanted and wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to actually obtain it. Carefully she slid out of her wedding dress, and lied it gently back in it's box. Tomorrow was going to be terrible.

"Elizabeth! Come downstairs!" Weatherby shouted, standing at the bottom of the staircase.

Elizabeth slowly walked down the stairs that had led to her room, and in to the dining room. There was a large table with tons of food on it, the maids were running around and preparing everything until it was perfect. There was some candles lit and set on the table and her father was sitting at the end of the table with a huge grin on his face. "Elizabeth, we're celebrating for tomorrow! Oh, aren't you excited? I simply can't wait!" he said cheerfully, then motioned for her to sit down.

Elizabeth forced a smile and laughed innocently, "Yes, Will is a good man." She said, sitting down in the chair beside her father's. She kept her eyes on her food and only put small forkfuls of it in her mouth at a time. It was hard to sit there and lie to her father's face about marrying Will tomorrow, she had made up her mind though. There was no changing it now.

"So Elizabeth, does your wedding dress fit? I mean…I remember last time when you wore one of those corsets." He said with a shiver. "You fell in to the ocean, but that nasty pirate saved you…oh what was his name again?"

"Jack Sparrow." She said in a sort of whisper, the corners of her mouth lifted up in to a smile but she still didn't look up to meet her father's gaze.

"Oh yes, Jack Sparrow. How could I forget?" he took a sip of water and then carefully set the glass back down, looking at Elizabeth for a brief moment. "Elizabeth are you…are you smiling?" he asked, wondering why she'd be smiling over Jack Sparrow.

Elizabeth immediately changed the look on her face, and she glanced up at her father and shook her head. "No. Of course not!" she said in a pretending disgusted tone. "Actually, I'm tired. It's getting late and I'm going to need rest for tomorrow morning. Thanks for the delicious dinner, father." She said and kissed him on his cheek before heading up the stairs and in to her room again.

With a heavy sigh she collapsed on to her bed, how could she be so cruel to Will? Was she really going to leave him? Yes, she was. She had to. Elizabeth wanted freedom, she wanted Jack. She didn't want to stay in Port Royale for her whole life, have a few kids and raise them with Will, then die before doing anything…exciting. Those thoughts raced through her mind as she slowly drifted to sleep, not really looking forward to the day to come.

It was the day of the wedding. Rain drizzled outside, though no one seemed to care. They were all too excited for the wedding. Elizabeth sat on her stool in front of the mirror, the maids were helping her tie the back of her wedding dress. She sat there with a dull expression on her face, just waiting to be alone so she could run off. Tears filled her eyes, and she bit her lip. One of the maids noticed and she placed her hand on Elizabeth' shoulder.

"Are you alright, miss?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm fine…I'm just so excited that I'm finally getting married." Elizabeth lied through her teeth. "I'm actually sort of nervous." She whispered.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine." The maid said with a bright smile. "Oh, excuse me for a second. I've forgot your veil downstairs, I'll be right back." She said, and then scurried off to fetch it.

Elizabeth didn't wait, she pulled out the letter from her drawer and set it on the desk. Then ran downstairs, towards the door and slid outside without anyone notice. She could hear the maid's voice from the kitchen, and then footsteps probably heading back up the stairs. "I've found it!" she cried out.

Elizabeth held back tears as she picked up the bottom of her wedding dress, and kept running towards the jail. There was no one on the streets, because all of them were attending her wedding, and waiting for the bride to arrive. She wondered what they'd all think, when they saw the groom there standing alone, and the bride never to arrive.

At the wedding, people were sitting in rows upon rows and listening to the soft music that played. They were dressed in fancy clothes, all of them looking their best, especially Will. He stood at the end of the isle, in a tuxedo and looking as handsome as ever. There was a smile etched on to his face that seemed like it would never leave, he was just so happy to finally being able to call Elizabeth his wife. This was absolutely the best day of his life.

Hours started to pass, and the rain came down harder. A couple people started to get up and leave, but most of them stayed. Will wouldn't let this day be ruined, he figured Elizabeth was just having some girl problem with her dress or makeup, something like that.

But when Weatherby approached him, he smiled over at him. "Any idea where Elizabeth is?" Will asked him.

"Well, she's not at home." Weatherby said softly, and the people attending the wedding started to mumble back and forth about what was going on. "There…was a note." He said, shrugging his shoulders and then biting his lip.

"What did it say?" Will asked, his hands trembling, half from being nervous and half from being soaked to the bone by the pounding rain.

"Well, basically it indicated that Elizabeth isn't showing up today." Governor Swann said with a bit of a pained look on his face.

"So, it was a bad note, I take it?" Will asked, and pain reflected in his eyes.

Weatherby grimaced, "I'm so sorry Will." He whispered, then turned and made an announcement to all of their guests, who looked sad and had pity for Will. They started to stand up and head home to get out of the rain. Even Weatherby did after trying to talk to Will about it but not helping at all.

When everyone was gone, Will dropped to his knees, covering his face with his hands and sobbing. He was heartbroken, destroyed, hurt for good. How could Elizabeth do this to him. He looked up at the flowers, the food they had prepared sitting on the table, and the wedding cake. He slowly rose to his feet and walked towards it, pulling the little bride off of the cake and staring down at it in his hands. He was so cold and shivering and how his insides ached like no pain he had ever felt before. He felt like weeping and dying, like this pain was so heavy that it would never leave him alone. He grasped the bride tighter in his hand and then threw it angrily.

Will fell in to a heap on the ground, sobbing and wishing this was all just a dream. Wishing that Elizabeth had showed up and didn't leave him. Wishing that the pain he felt would dull at least a little. But Will was a giant mess, his heart had been shattered. He didn't deserve this.

The jail was empty, all of the soldiers were gone, and the only person in there was Jack. And he was dozing off with his hat covering his eyes.

"Jack! Wake up, it's me, Elizabeth. I'm going to get you out of here." She said.

Jack groaned and turned over on to his side, he pulled his hat off of his eyes and looked at her. Instantly he said up and frowned, "Why are ye' wearing that dress, love?" he asked. "Are ye' married to William now?" he asked curiously.

"No. Today was our wedding but I didn't show up." She said sadly, looking away and unable to keep eye contact with him.

"Oh, and why is that?" Jack asked, grinning slightly as he stood up and made his way towards the bars where Elizabeth was.

"Well, I uh-…wanted to go with you." She said quietly, glancing up at him only to see his sly smirk. "If that's alright." She said, shrugging. "If not I can just leave you in here and go marry Will..." she said, turning to leave. It was really just a trick to see if Jack really cared or not, she wasn't actually going to go back and marry Will.

"No, wait!" Jack shouted then he bit his lip and growled at himself. "Ye' can come." He said, and then motioned to the bars. "Now get me out of here, love." He said chuckling and leaning against the wall.

Elizabeth grabbed a set of keys and fit each one in to the hole until the door unlocked. She pulled the door open and motioned for Jack to lead the way.

"Thanks darling." He said, grabbing her by the wrists and slowly backing her up towards the wall to press her back firmly against it. He got closer to her, so his lips were just an inch from her own. "Any other reason you came to get me out of here than just to sail on the Pearl?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

Elizabeth's breath had been snatched away from her and her chest moved in and out quickly now. "Well I-…" she didn't know what to say. Admit coming here for him because she was in love with him? Not now. "I'll tell you later, let's just get out of here before someone sees us." She whispered.

Jack nodded and grabbed her hand, "Alright, hurry up 'Lizabeth." He said, chuckling and racing up the stairs. He had been watching the wood beneath his feet when he bumped in to a rather soaked, cold figure standing at the top of the stairs.

Elizabeth gasped, bringing her hand up to her mouth and shuddering. "Will."


	3. Chapter 3

"So this is why you couldn't attend our wedding?" Will asked, glaring down at the two of them. "Because you were here, trying to free a filthy pirate from his jail cell?" he snapped, folding his arms over his chest and blocking the exit. There was no way he was going to let his fiancé run off with some pirate! She was supposed to be marrying him right now, he couldn't even explain how upset he was at the moment.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "Well…" she said, starting to trail off and look away. "That's not the only reason." She mumbled under her breath. She couldn't tell him, it was too hard. The look on his face was already unbearable, she just wondered what it'd be like after she had decided to tell him.

"Then what else? No wait…let me guess. You're running away with Jack aren't you?" he asked, knowing that wasn't the reason. However he glared harshly at Jack anyway. He didn't deserve Elizabeth, she was far too good for him. Jack had slept with tons of girls before, and Will was afraid that she was just going to be another name added to that list.

"Yes." Elizabeth said simply, shrugging her shoulders and acting as if it weren't a big deal at all. She had gotten fed up with Will, he was acting like he was her father! She had the right to her own decision, even if he didn't like it, and right now she was deciding to leave him for the pirate. Will was just going to have to deal with that.

Will's head snapped up and stared at her in shock and utter disappointment. "N-no." he stammered, shaking his head from side to side slowly in disbelief. "Oh god, no!" he shouted, then turned and placed his hands over his eyes. This whole thing was unbelievable to him! 

As soon as Will turned, Jack had slid his arms around Elizabeth's waist and rushed out of the door with her. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Will drop to his knees and shuddering, he must've been sobbing or something. "You don't need him, Lizzie." Jack said in a low voice. Will was over reacting, he wasn't thinking of what Elizabeth wanted. He was thinking of what he wanted, he was being selfish.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, sighing for a brief moment. "I know." She said quietly, holding on to his arm as they started to run towards the Pearl. "I've already made up my mind so let's just get out of here before he really starts to cry." She said with a small smile as she gazed over at Jack. Soon the soldiers were running after them, dressed in their red uniforms and shooting their muskets at them.

Jack laughed, smirking over at Elizabeth. "See? Now this is adventure, this is freedom, Elizabeth." He said, keeping his hand on her back so she wouldn't fall behind. This was what he lived for, the thrill and danger of things. It was exciting and far more entertaining than living in Port Royal as a blacksmith, or a governor's daughter.

Elizabeth was well aware that they were both at risk of being killed, but she was laughing! This was actually fun! Running away from all her problems and getting ready to commandeer a ship and sail away with Captain Jack Sparrow. It was like a dream, only it was really happening. She didn't even care that Will was heartbroken, or that her father would be disappointed in her for making this decision.

Jack grabbed Elizabeth's hand and ran on to one of the ships on the dock. There wasn't anyone on it, so it made it easier to take. A few minutes after preparing the ship to leave, Gibbs and the crew had rushed on with more soldiers following after them. "Jack! We need to go, now!" Gibbs shouted, panting and out of breath as he stopped, bent over and placed his hands on his knees.

"Aye!" Jack shouted, then cut the rope holding them to the dock with his sword and smirked as they started to sail away from Port Royal. His eyes slowly wondered over to Elizabeth, who was standing at the railing and gazing at the town as it started to shrink. He decided to let it go, not thinking there was something wrong with her.

Instead he went to the helm and took over for Cotton for awhile. The ship they had decided to 'borrow' wasn't actually that fast. In fact it'd be a miracle if it ever caught up to the Pearl, where Barbossa was. He sighed, patting the wheel with his hands. Once again he looked over Elizabeth, still it looked like something was troubling her. He returned the wheel over to Cotton and headed down the stairs, stopping at the railing beside her. "What's on yer mind luv?" he questioned, staring out over the sea.

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment, glancing over at him from the corner of her eye and then smirking a little. "I'm just worried." She mumbled under her breath, not really sure that she had wanted to tell him exactly what was on her mind. She wasn't sure he'd understand or if he'd just think she was silly.

"Oh really? About what?" he asked, curiously. "I'm going to take good care of ye on me ship, Lizzie. Don't worry about that." He assured her, patting her shoulder a few times. Jack would make sure she was alright, he even knew she'd be upset over Will for a few days so he'd give her the time and space she needed to get over that problem. He wouldn't bug her about it, he'd just let her handle that on her own.

"Oh, no it's not that. It's about Will. I saw him before we left, he looked devastated. What if he…" she gulped, not wanting to think about it. Will wasn't very capable of handling this sort of thing. Elizabeth thought he might actually harm himself, or…kill himself eventually if it went on long enough. "Jack he's not-"

"Elizabeth listen to me." Jack said, spinning her around and gripping her shoulders so she had to stay there and stare him in the eyes. "Will is a boy, he's a wuss. _I_ on the other hand, am a man." He said, grinning at her and starting to walk her backwards until her back was pressed firmly against the railing. "Which would you rather have? A boy…or a man?" he questioned.

Elizabeth's breath became slightly ragged and her heart sped up the closer he got. "I-I don't know." She breathed, watching as he drew closer, his lips almost brushed against her own. Of course she knew the answer, she just wasn't able to speak clearly at the moment because of Jack's actions. Her hands gripped the railing behind her as she started to lean back over it, trying to put some distance in between herself and Jack to keep from kissing him.

Jack chuckled deeply, "What do ye mean ye don't know?" he asked. "It's a simple yes or no question." He smirked, staring down at her with amusement as she seemed to be at loss for words. "Come here." He groaned, then slid his arm around her back and tugged her close to him. He stared down in to her eyes and then slid his fingertips along her soft cheek. "Now answer me question, Lizzie." He chuckled.

"I don't know." She repeated again, closing her eyes so she wouldn't be tempted by him. She could feel him so close to her and she tried to pull away but she couldn't, she wanted to, but her body wouldn't move…it was like she was frozen there.

Jack grinned down at her, and then started to pull back. He found it rather entertaining as she just stood there, wanting to move but unable to bring herself to do it. He knew that the girl had some feelings for him, or else she wouldn't have agreed to coming aboard the Black Pearl. "Go in the captain's quarters, get some rest luv. It's been a long day for ye, hasn't it? Ye've had to skip yer wedding to free me of me cell, and then tell him to his face that ye didn't want to marry him. That takes a lot of courage luv, I respect ye for that." he told her, placing his hand on her shoulder and starting to walk her towards the cabin.

The ship was already sailing away from the dock, and the soldiers were shooting at them but they were too far away to have good aim anyway, and none of the shots were actually reaching them so there was no real need to worry. The crew was working on the ship, most of them had relaxed and went down in to the galley for some food or a bottle of rum afterwards, leaving Cotton at the helm for a bit.

Elizabeth nodded and opened the door, slowly walking in and sitting down on the bed. She felt dizzy, she supposed that was the effect Jack had on her. Her stomach was also queasy and her knees were wobbly. Jack had actually found this entertaining, and she shot him a glare every time he'd even give the slightest laugh.

Carefully she lied down on the bed and closed her eyes as Jack tucked the blankets around her. "Rest up, darling." He said, fixing the blanket and then standing up straight to look down at her. "You're going to need it. From this day forward you won't be a governor's daughter anymore, but a pirate." He said, the corners of his mouth curved up in to a handsome, crooked smile before disappearing outside of the cabin.

Elizabeth sort of liked the sound of that. Surely a life of adventure would be far better than the previous one she had. She had almost married Will! Well, he was a good man and all, but not what she wanted. Jack made her happy, Jack was exciting and amusing and clearly seductive. She had experienced that a few moments ago, and she had felt like she couldn't breathe actually. But she didn't know if Jack had real feelings for her, not the kind he had for his wenches in Tortuga. Slowly she began to fall asleep, her eyelids grew heavy and her chest moved in and out rather slowly for a change. Elizabeth turned on to her side and pulled the blankets around her, and soon after she had fallen in to a light sleep.

Jack had taken over the helm for Cotton, and the smile on his lips wouldn't seem to leave. He was glad Elizabeth was here, he had had feelings for her ever since he had pulled her out of the water and ripped her corset off of her. Now she was finally on his ship, _without_ Will, that was surprising. He grasped the spokes in his hands a little tighter as the wind picked up a bit, he had to place his hand on top of his head to keep his hat from blowing away. In the distance, the sky had gotten a lot darker. He supposed there was a storm moving in, a nasty one by the looks of it. But he also assumed that it wouldn't do too much damage, it was nothing they needed to get worked up about. He'd even see if Elizabeth would sleep through it or not.

Soon the storm had came in and lightning flashed through the sky. Rain beat down on himself and the crew so hard that you could barely see two feet in front of you. When a flash of bright lightning lit up the sky, a crack of roaring thunder rumbled right after. Then a small yelp was heard from the captain's quarters, and in an instant Elizabeth had rushed out and was clinging on to Jack. He chuckled, staring down at her with a crooked smirk. "What's the matter luv? Yer not scared of thunderstorms are ye?" he asked, shaking his head. "Let's get ye back inside, yer getting all wet." He told her, starting to walk her back towards the cabin.

She sighed. "No. I'm not scared." She said, rolling her eyes playfully. "It just…startled me, that's all. I was sleeping, then all of the sudden I heard that loud noise and I jumped up and my first instinct was to.." she sighed, not really wanting to admit to it.

"Your first instinct was to run to good ole' Jack." He grinned, raising one of his eyebrows. "That's alright luv. Ye knew I'd protect ye, didn't ye?" he asked, rubbing his hands up and down her arms while trying to warm her up a bit. His clothes were soaked and they were sticking to him, much like Elizabeth's even though she had only been out there for a few moments. And it had been awfully hard to keep his eyes on her face and not roaming over her body.

"Well, I guess." She sighed, biting her bottom lip and looking away. She was deep in thought for a moment. "Jack?" she asked quietly, looking up at him again with a sort of innocent face. "I have a question, and I want you to promise me that you'll answer it no matter what it is.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Alright." He said, not thinking it could be too bad. "I promise." He said, forcing his smile away. She'd think he was lying if she saw it.

"And I don't want you to break your promise just because you're a pirate. You're really keeping this promise okay?" she pleaded, narrowing her eyes and showing him that she was being serious.

"Oh, alright. I swear on me life, Lizzie. I'll answer yer question." He said, then motioned for her to continue. "What is it already?" he asked, getting desperate to know what it was.

"Do you love me?"


	4. Chapter 4

'_Do you love me?'_

Jack's face went pale at that question. His throat tightened and he gulped, flashing her an innocent sort of smirk. He was speechless actually, and was trying to stall until he found the right words to say. Jack was a pirate, pirates didn't fall in love. Because if he did, he knew perfectly well that he'd only end up getting hurt in the end. And that pain just wasn't worth it. "Well, luv…" he started, trailing off with a sigh.

Elizabeth watched him quietly, wondering what he was going to say. She'd try not to be too upset if he said no, and she'd probably jump up and down if he said yes. It was getting rather intense, sitting there and waiting for an answer. And really it wouldn't take this long if it were good, right? So she had assumed he was trying to think of a way to break it to her nicely.

Jack bit his bottom lip and groaned slightly, he had no idea what to say to her! So instead of even answering her question he turned and started to walk towards the door. But in a second, Elizabeth had slammed his back against the wall and held him there, glaring up at him.

"You promised." She said firmly, gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes at him. "You're not moving until you answer." She told him, shaking her head.

"I've got a better question for ye, darling." Jack said, raising one of his eyebrows. "Do _ye_ love _me_?" he asked, slowly starting to walk towards her even though she was trying her best to keep him pinned on the wall. Elizabeth would learn that he was stronger than her eventually, and she'd give up on trying to get him to do whatever it was she wanted him to. And he knew how squeamish she got whenever he was close to her, he chuckled and gradually decreased the space between them.

Elizabeth stared down at her boots, "That's not fair. I asked you first." She stated, unable to meet his gaze. Then she saw him creeping towards her and her eyes flashed up to meet his, "What are you doing?" she asked, backing up a little.

"I'm waiting for an answer." Jack said, rolling his eyes. "What are _ye _doing?" he asked, noticing that she was backing up. He must be making her feel uncomfortable, and that thought alone made an evil smirk appear on his lips.

"I-I'm waiting for an answer too." She said, pouting as best she could. Elizabeth was trying to make him give in, but she couldn't keep herself from stuttering or shivering as he grew closer.

"Well, if yer not going to tell me yer answer. Then I'll just have to get in another way." Jack said, bringing his hand up to his chin and pretending to think.

"Oh, and just how are you planning on doing that?" she questioned, putting her hands on her hips. "Like there is another way of finding out without me telling you." She said, rolling her eyes. "Well, go on, since you think you can-"

Jack had pressed a rough kiss to her lips, drawing it out and making it last quite awhile. He had heard Elizabeth squeak as soon as he had done it, but he felt her kissing back…and he got his answer from that. She did love him. Or else she would have pushed him away instead of actually kissing back, right?

Elizabeth felt lightheaded, and dizzy after the kiss. In fact the look on her face after the kiss was actually a dreamy sort of look. Her eyes were half shut and there was a wide grin on her lips and she leaned on Jack, giggling quietly every few moments. "Okay…I guess I do, love you." She admitted. If they hadn't have kissed, then she would have never told him first.

Jack laughed deeply, she looked drunk actually, even though she hadn't had anything to drink. It was rather amusing to watch her, he couldn't believe the effects he had on this woman. "I know ye do." He said after she told him that she loved him.

"How do you know?" she asked, "I didn't tell you." She protested, wondering how he could tell.

"Yer kiss." He whispered to her. "Ye kissed me back, 'Lizabeth." He stated. "If ye didn't love me, then ye probably wouldn't have kissed me back." He told her, twirling a piece of her hair around his finger.

"Oh…right." She said, nodding her head quickly. She was so dazed from the kiss that she had forgotten that she had even asked Jack that question, and she let it go. Jack was thankful for that, because he honestly couldn't give her a straight answer just yet. He needed to think.

"Alright luv, it's gettin' late and yer all wet. I've got some clothes for ye, over there in me dresser." He said, motioning to it. "It might not fit, but just put it on anyway, at least t' sleep in." he said, placing his hands on her back and pushing her towards the dresser.

Elizabeth blinked a few times, then opened the drawer and dug around for clothes. "O-okay. Thanks Jack. I think I will go to sleep, I feel sick." She told him, glancing over her shoulder at him.

He had to keep the look on his face serious, he knew why she was feeling sick and queasy at the moment, it was because of that bloody kiss! She was still dazed from it. Outside, the crew had been pressing their ears against the door and laughing quietly amongst themselves. They couldn't believe what they were hearing! They knew Jack had feelings for Elizabeth now, the way he was talking to her gave it away. But they heard him starting towards the door and they dashed off back to their posts before he came out. The storm had grown quiet even though there were still clouds hanging over in the night sky, making everything seem gloomy and less bright.

"Yer cute, Lizzie." He chuckled, then turned and headed out the door to relieve Cotton from his post at the helm. Not aware that the crew had heard the conversation he and Elizabeth had had, and the ones that didn't, would soon hear about it anyway.

She had changed her clothes in to some of Jack's, he was right, they had been a little big but she didn't mind. Then she slid in to the bed and pulled the blankets up around her, snuggling down in to them and getting warm. The sickness in her stomach had finally melted away, and she felt normal once again…then she remembered the question she was going to ask Jack! She groaned, turning over on to her other side. Elizabeth would let it go for now, she'd get an answer out of him sooner or later. But for now all she wanted was sleep, and after a bit, her eyes had grown heavy and she had dozed off.

* * *

The cool breeze blew across the ship, and the air was moist and damp, making it rather uncomfortable for anyone outside. Yet Jack didn't mind, he found it quite calming to be outside at night, steering the ship even though it wasn't his Pearl. He patted his hands on the wheel, humming the song Elizabeth had taught him on that island a long time ago to himself.

"Jack?"

The captain jumped, then spun around and stared at the man who had spoken. "Ah." He said in relief. "Mr. Gibbs, what is it ye need?" he asked, turning and gripping the spokes in his hand again.

"Well, the crew and I were just worried about you." He began slowly, stepping towards Jack and standing behind him. Some of the crew were listening, though they were making it seem like they were really working.

"Oh, and why would you be worried. I'm fine." Jack said, motioning to himself and shrugging. "There's nothing to be concerned about, I assure you Mr. Gibbs." Jack said, starting to hum again.

"Well, we sort of over heard you and…Elizabeth talking, while you were in your cabin." Gibbs started, wondering if Jack would get the idea or if he'd have to explain.

Jack nodded, "Yes, you heard us talking." He repeated. "Is that all? That's not anything to be worried about mate," Jack chuckled. "The girl has run away from Port Royal because she doesn't want to be married to Will." Jack told him, "Nothing wrong with that. And if yer worried about her being a woman and on the ship, then ye must know Elizabeth is an exception." He told him.

"Oh, but it's not that either, Capt'n." Gibbs said, shaking his head. "It's somethin' else." He stated, a bit uneasily. He had no idea how his captain was going to take it, so he wanted to bring it up slowly. "It has to do with Elizabeth, not about how she has run away from Turner, but different." He told him.

Jack rolled his eyes, "I've got no time for yer little games, Gibbs." He groaned. "What the hell is it?" he demanded to know, narrowing his eyes and taking a step towards him, dropping his voice to a whisper after noticing the crew was listening.

"Well, the crew has been talking and…we think yer…fallin' in love with Elizabeth." He mumbled.

Jack blinked his eyes a few times as Gibbs finally voiced what was wrong. '_Damn_.' He thought in his mind, biting his bottom lip and looking away quickly. So he was in love with her! Who cares? It wasn't like he had told her anyway! "What?" he choked out, trying to buy more time for him to come up with a reasonable answer, once again.

* * *

Inside the quarters, Elizabeth was lying awake, unable to sleep anymore. She was too excited, being on the ship with Jack was something she loved. It was far better than being married to Will, she was already glad she had made the choice to leave him for this. She sat up, stretching her arms high above her head and yawning, debating in her head whether or not to go out and look for Jack.

* * *

Mr. Gibbs sighed, rolling his eyes. "The crew thinks yer in love…with Elizabeth!" he said, a bit louder so he knew Jack would hear him this time.

Jack gulped, then tried to come up with something to say again. His mind was blank. He did love her, he had loved her for a long time…maybe he had shoved his feelings aside for her for awhile, but now that she was back, so where they. But he wasn't going to tell Gibbs that, that was just silly. The crew would start to worry about him, because they knew as well as he did, that Jack Sparrow was just not supposed to fall in love. All he was expected to do, was stick with his wenches in Tortuga, never get in to a serious relationship.

Elizabeth had decided to come out and talk to Jack, she slowly opened the door, then stopped in the doorway as she saw Jack and Gibbs talking. She decided to listen instead of interrupting right away.

Jack laughed innocently, "So…let me get this straight." Jack said, pretending to be amused. "Ye and the crew…think I'm in _love_ with Elizabeth?" he laughed, then rolled his eyes. "Mr. Gibbs, yer hilarious!" he said, grinning. "Of course M' not in love with her! Captain Jack Sparrow, does _not_ fall in love."

Gibbs had noticed Elizabeth behind them, and he had tried to signal to Jack that she was there, but Jack didn't take the hint at all. He just kept talking.

Then Elizabeth spun around and headed back in to the quarters, slamming the door and falling on to the bed, burying her face in to the pillow.

Jack didn't even notice Elizabeth had come out, he only heard the door slamming. "Who was that?" he asked, glancing over at the door.

Gibbs grinned, laughing from what Jack had previous said…trying to make it sound like he had been joking about his question, and knowing all along that Jack wasn't in love. He grew quiet as he looked towards the door, where Jack had been gazing too. "That was Elizabeth, Capt'n." he said, wondering if that was a problem.

"Did she hear what I said?" Jack whispered, eyes flashing back towards the man before him in worry.

"Aye, she did."


	5. Chapter 5

Jack sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He was staring at Mr. Gibbs blankly, wondering what to do about this. He couldn't just walk in there and tell Elizabeth that whole thing was just a lie to get the crew off his back, even though it was. Jack really did love her, but he wouldn't admit it, not now anyway. He was too stubborn an strong headed to do that. He noticed a strip of land coming up in the distance. "Where are we?" he asked.

Gibbs pulled out his spyglass and peered at the land they were approaching, "Ah, Tortuga." He said with a smirk, and then slid his eyeglass back on to his belt.

"Good. I could use a couple of drinks, anyway." He said, rolling his eyes. "Prepare to make port," he said, and then Gibbs repeated his orders to the crew. Most of them were happy, they loved Tortuga, and any man right in his mind would. There was fighting, alcohol, and wenches. It was like a piece of heaven on earth to them. "Oh, and Mr. Gibbs?" Jack asked, stopping and looking over at him.

"Aye, Captain?" Gibbs asked, wondering what he wanted.

"I do…love her." He mumbled under his breath. "The girl." He said, motioning towards he door she was in. "But yer not going to tell anyone. I only told ye because yer me first mate and me best friend." He said. "Keep yer mouth shut, don't say a word of this to anyone." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes. If the crew found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

Gibbs smiled, and then nodded. He knew the captain had been acting sort of weird. It was sort of cute though, that Jack Sparrow had finally fallen in love…and with a woman that matched him perfectly.

Jack held up his fist outside of Elizabeth's door, he didn't know whether to knock or not. He didn't have anything to really explain to her, and he wasn't quite sure how to tell her that he loved her yet either. "Lizzie?" his gruff voice came through the door, "We're about to make port, ye can come if ye want." He said, then started towards the deck to help the crew.

* * *

Elizabeth didn't move her face from the pillow, she blew out a shaky breath and rubbed her tears away. Finally, she could get off of this ship. But she wanted to talk to Jack, and once they went in to the taverns, she would. It was sort of awkward between them now, she wished she hadn't walked out when he was saying that to Gibbs. But it did hurt, she had spilled her heart out to him and told him that she had loved him! She had left Will for him! And…he didn't love her in return, or so she thought. She stood up and moved towards the door, when she opened it she walked outside and down the gangplank with some of the crew towards the tavern.

Jack had gotten to the tavern a little earlier than Elizabeth did, and he sat down at one of the tables without ordering a drink yet. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes, trying to think. Then he heard a sweet, familiar voice and instantly he knew who it was.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked, sitting down at the table across from him. "You could have just told me you didn't have any feelings for me in the first place, I would have taken it a lot better than over hearing you and Gibbs, you know." She told him.

"But Elizabeth I _do_ have feelings for you." He told her, opening his eyes. "I just told Gibbs that because if the crew found out they'd never stop buggin' me about it." He told her, shaking his head. "They'd think I'm going soft." He said quietly.

"So you _do_ love me!?" she asked excitedly, "I mean…that's nice." She said, trying to calm herself down. "I'll…go get us a glass of rum. How's that?" she asked.

Jack chuckled as he heard how excited she sounded. "Sounds wonderful, luv." He grinned up at her, winking and then motioning towards the bar.

Elizabeth smiled back, then stood up and headed towards the bar. "Can I get two glasses of rum, please?" she asked the bartender. He filled two mugs with rum and slid them towards her. "Thanks." She said, then turned and saw Mr. Gibbs standing in her way. "Hi, Mr. Gibbs." She said, then tried to step around him but he took a step in front of her.

Gibbs gulped, "Hello Elizabeth." He said, looking her up and down. "So…ye got some rum there, huh?" he asked, motioning towards the mugs in her hands. He was really trying to stall so Jack could stop whatever the hell he was doing and focus on Elizabeth again. If she saw…he couldn't even think about that.

"Yes, rum. Now I'd appreciate it if you-" she took a quick step around him and froze. The mugs in her hand had fallen to the floor and shattered, her eyes were glazed over with pure anger and hate. "What the hell is he doing?!" she snapped at Gibbs, then narrowed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.

There was a wench sitting in Jack's lap, playing with the trinkets in his dreadlocks and kissing his lips so many times that he had lost his breath. He didn't even notice Elizabeth standing there and watching.

The wench giggled, "Jack?" she moaned quietly. "Want to go in to one of the rooms upstairs?" she asked, sliding her finger down his chest and stopping at his belt. "Please?" she whispered.

Elizabeth had become so angry, she reached over and pulled the pistol from Gibbs' belt and cocked it. She didn't even hesitate as she aimed it, then fired. The bullet hit the woman in the side, yet she fell back off of Jack and landed on the ground, a pool of blood gathering around her body. Well…it wasn't like anyone noticed, there was already enough fighting going on in that stupid tavern anyway.

Jack froze, closing his eyes as he heard a gun shot and then felt the girl sitting on his lap fall back. When he opened his eyes he saw the wench lying on the ground and covered in blood, and when he looked over at Elizabeth she had been blowing the smoke away that had came out of the barrel of the pistol. He was speechless.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said to Mr. Gibbs, and his jaw was hanging wide open as she slid the gun back on to his belt and walked past him. She began to walk back towards the ship. How dare Jack tell her that he loved her and then go and start to kiss all over a filthy wench!

Mr. Gibbs rushed over to Jack's side and scratched his head. "Jack I don't think Elizabeth likes it when yer spendin' time with yer wenches." He said, sitting down at the table.

Jack stared over at him, drumming his fingertips on the table. "She kissed me. I didn't! I was just sitting here at the table and all of the sudden she walks up and sits on me lap, then starts playin' with me hair and kissing me." He stammered, shaking his head. He glared down at the dead wench, and then smiled to himself as he realized that Elizabeth had shot that woman out of jealousy and anger. "She really is a pirate, isn't she?" he chuckled.

"Jack." Gibbs said sternly, "She's angry. You'd better go talk to her." Gibbs told him, shaking his head. "Ye have put her through a lot so far." He told the captain, then motioned towards the door. "I'll stay here and watch the crew, we'll give ye and Elizabeth some time alone to talk about things."

Jack sighed, slowly standing up and stretching his arms. "Alright. Fine, I'll go talk to the girl." He grumbled, then rubbed the back of his neck and stepped over the dead woman on the floor, and walked out of the tavern. He couldn't say he wasn't proud of Elizabeth for doing that, even though it had been uncalled for.

* * *

Elizabeth sat down in the spare quarters, burying her head in her hands and keeping the tears from coming. She was supposed to look strong, she had hated when she saw that girl all over Jack and on instinct she had pulled out Gibbs' pistol and shot her. She rubbed her eyes, inhaling deeply. Suddenly a knock came at the door and she looked up, she didn't even say 'come in', Jack had let himself in.

At first Jack glared at her, sliding his hands in to his pockets. "'Lizabeth." He groaned. "Why'd you do that? Ye killed an innocent girl." He told her, sitting down beside her and staring at the ground.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "She was _kissing_ you!" she shouted angrily. "You didn't protest it seemed. Maybe you liked it." She accused, scooting away from him but Jack slid his arm around her waist and slid her back towards him so her side was pressed against his.

"Listen to me, darling." He said softly. "That woman meant nothing to me. She kissed me, I didn't kiss her." He told her. "And I don't really have the guts to shoot a _woman_, thankfully you did that for me." He smirked at her and brushed the back of his hand over her cheek.

Elizabeth's heart sped up, "I didn't even mean to. It just sort of happened. If I could go back I'd-"

"Yer a pirate." He whispered under his breath, pushing her back on to the bed as he climbed over top of her, gazing down at her with a sort of wanting look.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, resting her head on the pillow. She gulped as she felt his warm breath on her neck, and then his lips there too. "I-I learned from you." She choked out, smirking a little.

"I'm proud of you, luv." He whispered in to her ear. "She was a terrible kisser anyway, you know who's better at it?" he questioned, chuckling deeply.

"Who?" Elizabeth giggled, bringing her arms around him and sliding the tip of her finger up along his spine. She had a good idea who he was going to say, but she wasn't going to tell him.

"You." He breathed, kissing her jaw gently. Jack wouldn't push her too far, he knew that he still had to gain her trust. He had to show her that she wasn't just some other girl to him, that she was different, she was special. "I love you." Jack moaned. "You're a pirate. Ye love adventure, bein' on the sea, _freedom_. We're perfect for each other, luv." He said.

Elizabeth opened her eyes halfway, "How many other women have you said this to before?" she asked, raising one of her eyebrows. She wasn't just going to be another name on the list of women he had slept with, she didn't want that.

"Just you." He told her honestly. "Yer different Lizzie. Yer not like any of those wenches in the taverns. And I'd never use ye for anythin' and then leave ye without a second thought. I truly, deeply and honestly love you."

Elizabeth smiled. "I love you, too." She said, hugging him tightly. This was too good to be true! There had to be a catch some where. Jack Sparrow loved _her,_ was this a dream?

All of the sudden, the door swung open and a man stood in the door way. "I hate t' interrupt but it seems ye survived our last meetin' Jack…and I can't have that." Barbossa said.

Jack stood up, pulling away from Elizabeth and pulling his pistol from his belt and aiming it at Barbossa. "What do ye want? You've got the Pearl, now leave." He demanded.

"I want to make sure ye won't come back. The Pearl is mine now, and ye can't have it back!" he shouted angrily.

Jack rolled his eyes, "You and I both know I'll get the Pearl back." He told him, smirking confidently. "I always do, and then ye'll be left with nothin'."

Barbossa chuckled, holding up his own pistol and aiming at Elizabeth. "Seems ye have aquired a soft spot for a certain lass, hm?" Barbossa questioned. "Well since yer planning on taking the Pearl from me, I'll take yer dearly beloved from you." He announced, then pulled the trigger.


	6. Chapter 6

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she saw Barbossa point a gun in her direction, she had even held her breath without knowing she was doing it. What if he shot her? What if that bullet killed her? She couldn't die! Elizabeth had finally gotten Jack to announce his feelings for her, and Barbossa wasn't going to take it away. Elizabeth had noticed he had been glaring at Jack and speaking, even though he was holding a pistol at her. An idea came to her, carefully she slid off the end of the bed while Hector was taking and too busy to notice. Jack hadn't noticed her get up and move either, because when Barbossa fired his gun, the look on Jack's face was of sheer terror.

Jack's head snapped towards where Elizabeth had been sitting after the gun went off, "No!" he shouted quietly, reaching out towards her, then gasped as he saw that she was already gone. He looked around, wondering where she could have went. She had better be alright, he smirked slightly and stared back at Hector with a harsh look. "Well." He said, shrugging his tense shoulders. "It seems me lass, is smarter than you think." He chuckled, then winced as Barbossa held up the pistol in his direction instead.

"Aye, but yer different. Yer standin' right in front of me with no where to go!" he laughed, "Yer gonna' die, Jack Sparrow. Yer girl can live, but I'm still goin' to rip you both apart." He sneered, then the sound of a gun being cocked was heard. Only…it wasn't Barbossa's gun.

"Elizabeth." Jack breathed thankfully, smiling proudly at her as she stood, pressing a gun to Barbossa's temple.  
"Now you listen to me." She whispered dangerously, flashing a sweet smile to Jack, but once she looked back at Hector her expression was once again cold and angry. "You've come on to our ship for no reason." She laughed bitterly. "You should have just left us alone and went on your way. Why are you here anyway?" she asked curiously.

Barbossa glared at her, but answered her question anyway…besides, she was the one pressing a gun to his head. "Well me and the crew stopped here in Tortuga for some supplies. We saw yer ship here, and figured that if we had the chance to finally kill Jack Sparrow, then why not?" he laughed, acting as if the gun to his head wasn't really a threat.

Elizabeth smirked, "Well. We'll be having the Pearl back. It was awfully nice of you to return it to us." She said, keeping the gun pointed at him, then motioned for Jack to start towards the door.

Jack couldn't be any more proud of her than he was at that moment. She was turning in to quite the pirate, right before his eyes. "Hector." Jack grinned, then motioned for him to go first instead. That had been a mistake.

Hector shrugged, giving a fake sigh of defeat and heading out the door. Jack then turned and slid his arm around Elizabeth's waist, "I'm proud of ye darlin'." He said, then stepped outside a long with her, only to greet Barbossa and his crew, all chuckling and holding up their pistols.

Jack's expression fell immediately and he gulped, pushing Elizabeth behind him protectively. "Can't we eh…come up with some sort of agreement?" he questioned, putting his hands together and smiling innocently in Barbossa's direction.

Barbossa only sneered in return, "Aye, we'll be keepin' the Pearl." He said. "But like I said earlier, Mr. Sparrow." He laughed under his breath, eyes flashing in Elizabeth's direction with a hungry sort of look. "I'm goin' to be wantin' the girl." He said, his eyes growing wide as he looked back at Sparrow. He knew this would rip the captain apart, which was exactly why he was doing it.

"No!" Elizabeth protested, stomping her foot and reaching for her sword but it was gone…so was her pistol. Why did she never have these things when she needed them? Her hands gripped Jack's arm tightly, refusing to let go of him.  
While Jack stood there, motionless. His jaw was hanging open watching as Barbossa's crew started to carry Elizabeth away. He wanted to reach out for her, but that wouldn't do any good, he knew what Barbossa wanted. "Wait!" he shouted, gripping Hector's shoulder. "How about I give ye somethin' more important than…a girl." He shuddered. It felt odd saying that, because there was nothing more important to him than her.

"And what be that?" Barbossa asked curiously, stroking his beard with interest.

Jack's hope was restored when Barbossa seemed to be somewhat interested. "The maps to the Fountain of Youth. The ones I stole from ye, but am willing to return, in exchange for Elizabeth." He said motioning to her. Jack grinded his teeth together, staring over at her. Wishing she was beside him or back in the cabin, safe where nothing could get to her.

Hector laughed, "It's a deal." He snapped, then gripped Elizabeth's arm tightly and jerked her so she was standing in front of him. "Bring me the maps and we'll trade." He told Jack. But something was wrong with Elizabeth, her eyes were barely open and she seemed to be leaning back against Hector for some strange reason.

Jack disappeared in to his cabin for a few minutes, he pulled out the map staring at it and sighing. He knew he'd get it back anyway, besides, Elizabeth was more important to him than immortality at the moment anyway. He walked out of his quarters, glancing at Barbossa. "Hand over the girl." He demanded.

"No. You hand over the map!" Barbossa sneered, shaking his head.

"No!" Jack said childishly, "I told you first." He grumbled.

Barbossa rolled his eyes, then shoved Elizabeth towards Jack and snatched the maps from the captain's hands as he caught Elizabeth. Hector laughed bitterly, pulling out the map and observing it to make sure Jack wasn't trying to trick him. When he saw the map, he motioned towards the Pearl with a jerk of his head, and he and his crew climbed aboard it and started to sail off on it.

Jack however, was occupied at the moment. He was worried about her. "Lizzie?" he whispered, gripping her arms to keep her upright. "What's the matter?" he wondered, lifting up her chin gently so she had to look him in the eyes.  
Elizabeth just stared at him, opening her mouth a little to try and talk, but shutting it and falling against his chest a little more.

Gibbs happened to be walking by and he stopped at the sight of them, or rather Elizabeth's backside. "Er Jack?" he asked, then pointed to her back.

Jack narrowed his eyes, wondering what was wrong as he slowly slid his hand up her back, then felt a hilt sticking out of her back. It was a small one, but when he pulled his hand back to look at it, there was blood. He gasped and spun her around slowly, seeing a dagger stuck in to her back. He gripped it tightly, then with a swift yank, pulled it from her.

A whimper escaped her lips and her knees felt like they were about to buckle beneath her. She could feel the blood soaking her clothes, and her head started to feel light, in fact…everything was spinning. "Jack?" she asked quietly, her eyes had a sort of dull look in them. "I love you, Jack. I love you." She whined helplessly.

Jack winced and picked her up as carefully as possible in to his arms and carried her in to his quarters. He lied her on her stomach on his bed and he used his dagger to cut open the back of her shirt. "I know you do, Lizzie. I love ye too." He said softly. "But don't ye dare say yer goodbyes to me." He warned her, shaking his head. No! He wouldn't have it! This wasn't goodbye!

Elizabeth seemed to have fallen unconscious from the amount of blood she had lost. Jack had tried to clean the wound but more blood had kept coming, so he wrapped it tightly with some clean bandage he had in his desk. Then washed his hands of her blood and grabbed one of his shirts from his dresser to tug on over her head. That had been hard to watch for him, he couldn't even imagine what it'd be like if she would have died on him. But…that was still a possibility, she could not wake up.

He stood there and watched her for a while, then slid out of the room and went below in to the galley.

* * *

A bit later Elizabeth woke up, she sat upwards on the bed and rubbed the back of her neck tiredly. Her eyes opened and she winced at the feeling of pain in her back.

"Oi!" Jack said, rushing in to the room and holding a tray of food. "Lie down!" he ordered, setting the tray down on the desk and gently pushing her back on to the bed. He rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, "Yer hurt, lay down." He chuckled under his breath and then handed her an apple from the tray. "Eat, you'll need yer energy." He told her, pulling up a chair beside the bed and sitting down so he was closer to her.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said, giggling a little. Jack really did care about her didn't he? She took the apple from him and took a bite, "I'm fine." She protested. "I don't need to rest."

"Yer just being stubborn." Jack chuckled, rolling his eyes and brushing some hair out of her face.

"Learned from the best." She remarked, smirking at him and taking another bite. "By the way, what are we going to do now?" she wondered, wiping some of the juice off of her chin. "Are we going to go after Barbossa and get yer ship back?" Elizabeth asked excitedly.

A sudden distant look came to Jack's eyes, and he looked down, avoiding her gaze. "No." he said softly, sighing. "Lizzie…love." He said, gulping. "_We_ won't be going after the Pearl. _I_ am." He started slowly. "As for you? We're on our way to Port Royal now. I'm leaving you there, 'Lizabeth. It's too dangerous out here for you, I can't imagine losing you." He whispered.

Elizabeth looked up at him with wide eyes, that were starting to fill with tears. "What? No! Jack I love you! Please don't make me go!"

Jack's expression was sad and full of sorrow as he spoke. "I know you do. And I love you too, but that's why I've got to let you go. Sometimes you've got to let the ones you love go to protect them. Which is why I have to say goodbye to you."


	7. Chapter 7

"I won't leave! You can't make me go!" Elizabeth yelled at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You have no right to send me off this ship, it should be my decision!" she growled at him, trying desperately not to drop to the floor and sob. She couldn't believe he'd do this to her! Elizabeth couldn't go back to Port Royal, to her father, to…Will.

"I can too!" Jack told her, narrowing his eyes. "Lizzie it's my ship, therefore ye do as I say. And when I say it's time fer ye to leave, then yer just going to have to get off the ship. M' sorry, but I won't lose you. You came close already! You could've been shot!" he told her, shaking his head and pacing back and forth.

"But I wasn't!" she shouted at him, whimpering under her breath. "Please, Jack? Please? Don't make me go back!" she begged, walking towards him and throwing her arms around him, sobbing in to his chest. "I need you, Jack. I love you! I don't want to leave, I want to stay here with you! I know it's dangerous, but that's what I like about it. I love the freedom, and the adventure. You're not really going to make me go back to Will are you? Jack I gave him up for you…I gave everything up for you and you're just going to throw me away?" she asked, looking him in the eyes quite sternly. Her back throbbed with a dull pain where she had been stabbed, but she didn't tell him that or give any sign of it in her expression.

He stared at her, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking away for a moment. Jack had no idea if he could actually make her leave, but it was for her own safety. She had almost been killed! How could she promise him that it wouldn't happen? She couldn't. "M' sorry." He whispered, looking at her sadly for a moment, then turning and heading out the door and in to his cabin. It wouldn't take but a few days to reach Port Royal, where he'd leave her. Of course he felt bad about this whole thing, but it wasn't like he had a choice. There was just no way he'd put her life in danger like that again. Jack slowly made his way over to his desk and sat down in his chair. Pulling a bottle of rum out of one of the drawers in his desk, he sipped it away until he was gone and a buzzing feeling ran through his body. It wasn't enough to make his worries go away, but at least it calmed him down.

A distant look came to Elizabeth's eyes as she sat down on the end of her bed, wiping away the tears that rolled down her cheeks and biting her lip. How could he do this to her? How could he be so heartless? Did he even care about her? Elizabeth was going to go back to Port Royal and face hell! For leaving Will, for running away with pirates, for not telling her father...she couldn't believe he was actually making her leave. This was what she loved! Freedom and adventure, the sense of danger, it was all wonderful. Elizabeth was shattered that he was forcing her to give that up.  
Then she heard a sudden knock at the door and she stood up, sniffing. She paused before answering the door to pull herself together, she expected it to be Jack. She wanted it to be him anyway. '[iPull yourself together, Elizabeth. You're Pirate King for God's sake![/i' she thought to herself, then nodded confidently before answering the door. When she opened it, she sighed in disappointment as the man before her didn't turn out to be Jack, but Master Gibbs.

"Excuse me, lass." Gibbs said quietly. "M' sorry fer interruptin', but the Captain be needin' ye in his quarters. He needs to change yer bandages. I'd do it meself but…" he looked her up and down, then blushed and took a step back. "He's waitin' fer ye." He said instead, motioning down the hall and to Jack's door.

Elizabeth gulped, "Thank you." She said, passing Gibbs an appreciative look before sliding past him and cautiously making her way down to the door. She rose her hand up to knock froze, "Come in." Jack said, she blinked a few times but opened the door and went inside anyway. When she spotted him, he wasn't even near the door, nor was he looking at it. How could he have known she was there? But she shook her head and let that go as he turned to face her.

"Feelin' alright?" he questioned, walking towards her and turning her around to lift the back of her shirt, seeing the bandages were soaked in blood and needed to be changed.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I'm fine. But why does it matter to you? It's not like you care about me anyway, I mean you're dropping me off at Port Royal." She told him, gasping a little as she felt him lift her shirt up with no warning at all.

Jack ignored her, tugging at the bottom of her shirt. "You'll be needin' to take that off." He said, leaning back against his desk and grabbing a clean bandage, watching her intently.

She stared at him for a moment, then looked down at her shirt. "In...front of you?" she questioned softly, she wasn't all to comfortable with that. In fact she was nervous and already blushing.

Jack didn't seem to understand the problem, "Aye, I need to change yer bandage, how else am I supposed to do that?" he asked her, folding his arms over his chest and fighting back a grin. Elizabeth was stubborn, he loved that about her. He loved everything about her, and when she blushed she looked absolutely adorable.

A bit hesitant at first, she nodded and slowly pulled her shirt over her head but turned so her back was facing him instead of her front. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at him, seeing him step forward with a devilish smirk on his face that made her stomach twist in to knots. "I'm glad you find this amusing." She snapped.

"I don't." Jack reassured her. "I think ye look amazin', even if ye are covered in blood." He chuckled, slowly starting to unwrap the dirty bandage from around her. After he managed to get it off he took a warm, wet cloth from a bucket of water on his desk and started to clean around the wound.

A gasp came from Elizabeth's mouth as she felt the cloth on her back, and she winced as he rubbed the dry blood away. "How does it look?" she wondered curiously.

"Ye should be healed soon actually." Jack said, quite surprised. He seemed to be innocent as he moved his hand to her side to scrub more blood off. "How'd ye manage to get blood all the way over here?" he asked, now standing in front of her and desperately trying to keep his eyes from roaming over her body. God was she beautiful.

"Oh, I-I don't know." She stammered, blushing insanely now. "Hurry. I'm cold." She whispered, feeling her stomach churn and her body grow tense.

Jack nodded and wrapped the clean bandage around her snuggly, then pulled one of his own shirts down over her head. "You must be tired, Liz." He breathed, brushing some hair out of her eyes.

Elizabeth ignored his statement, looking up at him with sadness. "Jack you have to let me stay. I'll miss you." She pleaded, slowly bringing her hand up to touch his cheek.

Jack pulled away, wincing. "I can't."

"You must."

"I won't."

"_Please_?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Too dangerous."

"I'm fine!"

"You're wounded."

"I'm a pirate."

"Not anymore."

The whole conversation seemed to go by so fast, each answer was only a few words. The two didn't even really look at each other. But Elizabeth's expression was one of pleading and begging, while Jack was being stubborn.

Elizabeth's eyes watered as he said she wasn't a pirate anymore, and she tried to rush past him but Jack wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back to pin her against the wall. "Don't you dare look at me like that." Jack whispered lowly, his lips only inches from hers. "I'm protecting you." He told her. "I'm saving you from any other harm, you should be thanking me." He growled at her.

"Thanking you for what, Jack?" She snapped back. " For making me give you up? The one man I really, honestly love? Thank you for making me go back to Port Royal and face hell? I don't think you deserve anything." She hissed, wanting to spit in his face. "You don't care about me. If you did you wouldn't be handing me back over to Will, you wouldn't drop me off at some damn port and leave me!" she whispered sternly. "So this whole thing was a lie. You don't love me, you were just waiting for an excuse to have me pack my bags and go home." She whispered, shaking her head at him. "You disgust me." She said, pushing past him and rushing out the door.

* * *

_Two Days Later_

"Captain! Port Royal is just ahead!" Gibbs shouted from the helm.

Jack sighed, looking up at the strip of land getting closer and closer. He didn't really want to let her go, but he had to. '_M' goin' to miss you, Lizzie.'_ He thought. Hesitantly, he walked towards her quarters and opened the door. He found her with her bags in her hand, and he blinked a few times.

Elizabeth glared at him and shoved past him, once she got on to the deck she dropped her bags and folded her arms over her chest, taking a last look around at the Pearl. "I'm not leaving." She told Jack, not bothering to look at him.

"I beg to differ." He grumbled, staring down at his nails and shaking his head. "Elizabeth, I love you."

"Wish I could say the same to you." She snapped, rolling her eyes shaking her head. He didn't love her. He was lying! If he did he wouldn't be making her get of the ship, she turned around walking towards him. She leaned forwards to hug him, and Jack had moved to hug her too, but Elizabeth pulled the sword from his belt and took a few steps back instead. "I'm not leaving." She said again, narrowing her eyes.

Jack knew Elizabeth wouldn't hurt him, so he reached out and grabbed the sword, then tossed it a few feet from them. He slid his arm around her and then lifted her up so she was leaning over his shoulder, and he grabbed her bags in his other hand and started to walk towards the docks.

"You put me down right now! I'm not leaving! I don't want to! Please, Jack, I _love_ you." She pleaded, her eyes watering as he walked off the dock and set her down on the ground.

Immediately Jack pulled her in to kiss him, devouring her mouth with his own. Elizabeth kissed him back roughly, holding on to him and refusing to let him go. She clung on to him, hands grapping at the lapels on his coat and whimpering as he pulled away. "Please let me come." She whispered, bringing her hand up and tracing her fingertips over his lips.

Jack grimaced, "Sorry, love. Maybe I'm come back fer ye after I get the Pearl back and it's not so dangerous." He said gruffly, and then Jack did the unthinkable and turned away from her, heading towards the Pearl and Elizabeth was left standing there.

"Jack!" Elizabeth shouted, shaking her head and starting to run after him, however she soon found a few men from the navy grabbing her by the arms and pulling her back, "The Governor will be pleased to hear you're safe Miss Swann, please come." One of them said, tugging on her.

However she ripped her arms away from them, gasping at the sight of the Pearl starting to leave the dock.

"Elizabeth, I love you! Don't forget that, aye? I promise ye I'll come back fer ye someday." Jack shouted back to her, smiling sadly as the Pearl started to sail further and further away from Port Royal.

"I bloody hate you!" Elizabeth screamed, ripping her arms away from the men and running down the dock. She was going to jump in to the water and try to catch up to them. In fact her mind was set on it. "Jack! No! Don't go! Please!" She cried now, nearing the end of the dock she was ready to jump when she felt two strong arms securely wrap around her waist.

In fact, Elizabeth had turned around and started to sob in to the man's chest, not even aware that the very man she was holding on to so tightly, was none other than William Turner.


	8. Chapter 8

Elizabeth sobbed in to Will's chest, still unaware that it was him. "No, Jack…" she whispered, holding the collar of Will's shirt tightly in her hand. "Come back." She pleaded, closing her eyes.

Will blinked staring down at her in shock, but deciding to take advantage of this and wrap his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" He questioned. Will wondered what was wrong…if Jack had hurt her, he'd personally see to it that the man was killed.

As soon as she heard his voice, her eyes slowly moved up his body and rested on his eyes. She jumped back in shock, wincing and unable to look at him. He must be completely disappointed in her for leaving him for a pirate. And she assumed that he was now going to rub it in her face that Jack had dumped her off anyway. "W-W-Will." Elizabeth stuttered, then suddenly shoved past him and started to walk towards her house, in fact, she didn't look back until she got there.

The maids were rushing out of the house and clinging on to her arms, almost crying at how pleased they were to see her. "Oh, Miss Swann! You have no idea how worried we were about you!" One of them squealed, hugging her tightly. "You're father was worried sick about you! He'll be so happy to learn that you are back. Are you alright?" She asked quickly, biting her lip in concern and taking a step back to look Elizabeth up and down.

"Yes, I'm fine, really." Elizabeth said, shrugging while walking towards the door to her house. She really was sick of being treated like she couldn't take care of herself. Jack had done it, and now the maids, and her father would be too, or so she assumed. When she arrived at the front door, she drew in a deep sigh and reached for the door knob. However she didn't have to open it, her father had done that from the inside and pulled her in to a crushing hug. "Elizabeth!" He said, shutting his eyes. "Darling, I thought I'd never see you again!" He told her, closing his eyes and holding her close. "Why'd you run off without telling me?" He questioned, looking at her sternly as if to tell her that she knew better.

Elizabeth hugged him back, but only for a moment. She didn't particularly feel like talking right now. She was exhausted both physically and mentally, she just wanted some rest. "I'm sorry...I won't leave again, I promise. I-it was a mistake." She mumbled, letting go of her father and slowly trudging past him, eyes swelling up with tears while heading up the stairs. Elizabeth didn't expect to be back here, she thought she'd be out on a pirate ship and spending her time with the wonderful, Captain Jack Sparrow, who she had grown to love immensely. And for what? To get dumped back off at Port Royal? She rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath while stepping in to her room. Elizabeth pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared in the mirror for a moment, she was a wreck. Her eyes were red and there were tears running down her cheeks, she sobbed a few more times while slowly walking towards her bed and just collapsing down on top of it. Elizabeth knew that her father wouldn't be able to stay away from her much longer because she had just gotten back and he hadn't seen her in a long time. She lied still, staring up at the ceiling, numb with pain. How could Jack be so cruel? She loved him immensely and he just threw her away? Even if it was to protect her, it hurt more to be away from him…she didn't even know if she'd ever see him again!

One of the maids walked in, eyes sympathetic and full of pity for Elizabeth. She slowly walked towards her and sat down on the bed beside her, a warm wet cloth in her hand. "Come here, Miss Elizabeth." She said, sliding her hand and placing it under her chin while gently rubbing her face and cleaning the dried tears away. "What's got you so upset? You can tell me, I won't tell the Governor." She said soothingly, still wiping Elizabeth's face.

Elizabeth was silent for a long time, not sure if she'd even be able to answer her. She let the woman clean her face, which also made her feel a little better. "Well…I fell in love." She whispered quietly, voice sounding dull. "It shouldn't have ever happened." She grimaced, pulling back from her hand slightly.

The maid rose one of her eyebrows curiously. "You fell in love? With who? Norrington? Is that why you didn't marry Will? Where'd you go when you were gone, Elizabeth?" She asked anxiously, desperately wanting to know the answers to all her questions.

At first Elizabeth stared at her as if she weren't going to answer those questions but looked down at the blanket covering the bed which she now clutched in her hands as she started to speak. "Yes, I fell in love." She confirmed with a nod of her head, smiling slightly even though it didn't reach her eyes as the maid asked her if she had fallen in love with Norrington. "No, not Norrington, and that's not why I didn't marry Will. I fell in love with a pirate…I'm sure you've heard of him…Jack Sparrow." Elizabeth said slowly.

The maid suddenly gasped and brought her hand up to cover her mouth. "Miss! A pirate? That's dangerous! What if he hurt you?" She asked, concerned. "Especially Jack Sparrow!" She said, trying to be stern…but a sudden dreamy smile appeared on her lips and she rested her chin in the palm of her hand while resting her elbow on her knee and sitting cross-legged on the bed now. "What's he like? Is he a good kisser? Is he handsome?"

Elizabeth tried not to blush, "He's not dangerous. He's the complete opposite. He loved me too…or…I think he did. I got stabbed." She said simply, wincing and looking away. "But he took care of me, I'm fine now, don't worry." She said, running her fingers through her tangled hair. When the maid asked if he was handsome and a good kisser, Elizabeth smirked. "Oh definitely! He's the most wonderful, amazing kisser in the whole world! His kisses are a million times better then Will's!" Elizabeth said dreamily. "And he is really handsome, I'll introduce-…" She trailed off, her bottom lip suddenly trembling at realizing Jack was gone and her eyes filled up with tears again too.

The maid reached out to touch her, wincing at seeing the tears in the young woman's eyes. "Aw, don't cry Elizabeth. I know you're hurting, how long is he gone for?" She asked quietly. "I shouldn't be saying this, but I'd gladly sneak you out if he ever came back to get you. Don't tell your father though, Elizabeth. I always knew this whole life as a Governor's daughter wasn't for you. You sort of have this wild, untamable streak about you and you belong out there on the sea. I bet it makes you happy…I don't know, you just don't look happy to be here."

Elizabeth glanced up at the woman from under her eyelashes, the look on her face twisted up in pain. "I really want to be happy here. I wish I never liked the sea, I can't believe he actually left!" She said, rubbing at her eyes again and sniffing. "I don't think I'll be having to sneak out though, I-I don't know if he's coming back or not. He thinks life out on the sea is too dangerous for me!" She said, suddenly throwing her arms around the maid and hugging her.

The woman sighed, rubbing Elizabeth's back and hugging her as well before finally pulling back when there was a knock at the door. "Elizabeth? Elizabeth are you sleeping? Will's here to see you." Her father said from outside.

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she gave the woman a pleading sort of look, the maid grinned to herself and nodded before slowly stepping outside and making sure she shut the door behind her as Will tried to peer in. "She's asleep. She's had a very tiring day, you know." She said, glancing from Will to the Governor and giving a small shrug.

"Then can you just give her this?" Will said, holding out a folded piece of paper to Weatherby with a broken smile on his face.

"Of course I will." Her father said, slowly taking the letter from his hand. "I shall tell her you stopped by first thing tomorrow morning and let her read this, in fact why don't you come back tomorrow morning after she's rested?" He suggested

"Thank you, Sir. I'll be by tomorrow morning then." Will said with a brief nod of his head, then he spun around and trudged down the stairs, letting himself out the door.

Mr. Swann slid past the maid and headed in to Elizabeth's room, glancing over at her and noticing that she was asleep…even though he didn't know she was just pretending to be. He carefully set the letter on the table beside her bed and walked towards her to brush his hand against her cheek. "I'm so glad you're home, darling. I was so worried about you." He whispered, though must have been talking to himself.

Elizabeth tried desperately to lay still and keep her breathing the same, making it believable that she actually was asleep. She was more than thankful when her father turned and headed out the door, and at the sound of footsteps going down the stairs, she sat up in bed and reached for the letter…not so anxious to read it, actually. She flipped it open and stared down at it nervously, biting her lip as she began to read;

_Dear Elizabeth,_

_You know, I never expected you to run from me like that. I never thought I'd see the day where you gave me up for a pirate…but you did. I was so crushed to watch you leave with him. I actually thought about killing myself, life just isn't the same without you, Elizabeth. You make me smile more than anything, you're my reason to life and when you're gone things are just so gloomy and dull. I don't want to say I told you so, but he hurt you. I saw you crying and that look in your eyes before you ran, don't deny it. He's a pirate that can't be trusted, you can trust me though…you know that, right? I love you Elizabeth, and I missed you so much. I understand if you don't want to marry me still, even though I never got the explanation of why and was just left standing there in the rain, watching all of our guests leave when they realized you weren't coming…they realized that, but I didn't...I still had faith that you would come, that you loved me and wanted to be my wife. You proved me wrong though. But now you're faced with a decision, with Jack gone there is no one to comfort you and you need it. I bet you're falling apart at reading this letter. I'm here for you, Elizabeth. I'll always be here for you…maybe Jack's a pirate and he's more exciting, but I'm reliable and trustworthy, so who's it going to be? I want to ask you if we should put the wedding back on, that is, if you'll still have me._

_Love,_

_William Turner_

Elizabeth's eyes brimmed with tears and she slowly rose her hand to wipe them away. Suddenly her face twisted up in anger and she growled to herself while crumpling up the note and throwing it as hard as she could. "I don't love you! Why don't you understand that! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! I hate living here! I hate drinking tea! I hate always having to be proper! I hate corsets and dresses! And I hate Jack for leaving me!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, climbing of the bed and pounding her fist against the door so hard that it made it tingle with pain when she whipped around to pace back and forth. She turned towards her dresser and yanked open the drawers, starting to pull out the dresses there and throw them all over the room. Then she just decided to strip the bed of the blankets and toss them on to the floor, knock the chair over, swipe everything off on top of her desk and on to the ground. Elizabeth groaned in frustration while tearing the curtains down that had covered her window but she froze in her rage at staring outside, seeing the starlit sky and gazing out at the sea. Jack was out there somewhere, sailing without her and probably sipping rum until he was drunk with a stupid grin on his face. She whimpered and leaned against the wall, slowly sinking down against it and burying her head in her arms and sobbing. She didn't stop for at least an hour, and by then she had cried herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning seemed to come to fast, and the light poured in from the window since the curtains were ripped down, she had actually been using them to cover herself up. Elizabeth assumed it was around noon already and slowly stood up, rubbing the back of her neck and gazing around at her completely torn up room. A knock was heard at the door. She growled under her breath, who needed to bother her so badly at this hour? She rolled her eyes and stepped over the things tossed on to the floor and jerked the door open. Her breath caught in her throat at realizing it was Will…and knowing that he'd see her in her current state. Her eyes were red with dark circles around them, her hair was tangled and messed up, her sleeve had slid down to reveal her shoulder and her pirate hat was carelessly pushed down on top of her head. She didn't want to keep it, she had wanted to throw it out the window but clung on to it instead, keeping it as a memory of Jack.

"So…I see you've redecorated the place." Will said, motioning to her room behind her.

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder, and then smiled sheepishly. "I thought you'd like that." She said sarcastically, hiding the scowl she wanted to give him. "What do you want anyway?" She hissed, wanting to slam the door in his face and continue to sulk in her room.

"I just wanted to know if you still wanted to get married or not. I figured you weren't going to write back to my letter…or make any attempt to talk to me so I took the time to come down here and speak to you myself." He shrugged, glancing over her.

"Well you shouldn't have." She said sharply, starting to close the door after rolling her eyes.

"No Elizabeth wait." Will said, stopping the door with his hand. "Listen. Jack left you! Look at yourself! You do not deserve to live like this. You deserve to be happy. I can't guarantee you that but I know I won't hurt you like he did. So what do you say? You and I can get married, how about three months from now just to give you time to think it over and decide that it's what you want again, alright?" He asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

Elizabeth stared at him wordlessly, well…what could she say? No? Then who would she love? Nobody? Jack had left her, he was right about that. And he had broken her heart! Why should she wait around for him to come back! She did deserve to be happy! But…Will wouldn't make her happy, there was only one person in the whole world that could do that but he had left. So she decided to give in, besides if Jack ever came back before these three months she'd gladly take him back! And if he didn't come back in three months…then she'd marry Will and be unhappy for the rest of her life. "Fine, three months." She agreed, then shut the door and turned around to lean on it.

Will smiled outside of the door, resting his forehead against it and biting his lip. He finally had her back! He felt like the happiest man alive and wanted to tell her that he loved her, but simply held his tongue and rushed down the stairs with excitement, hoping these three months would fly by.

Elizabeth shut her eyes and rested her head against the door, her heart racing. Why had she agreed to that? She'd rather be dead than married to Will? So why'd she tell him that she'd marry him in three months? What if Jack came back after three months and one day and wanted her back? She whimpered, realizing that she wouldn't be able to handle that. "What have I done?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N; This is a short chapter, I know, but I had to cut it off early for the next one to fit in. Sorry! Oh, and thanks for all of the wonderful reviews everyone! I appreciate all of your help!**

* * *

_Meanwhile, back on the ship…_

"What do ye mean were out of bloody rum?!" Jack snarled, pushing his hat upwards so it wasn't covering his eyes anymore. He was slouched in his chair with his boots propped up on the desk in his cabin. He was clearly drunk, his words were slurred and some couldn't even be understood.

"Captain, you've drank it all!" Gibbs said quickly, motioning to the piles of bottles scattered about his cabin.

Jack scoffed, slowly rising to his feet and stumbling towards Gibbs. He lifted his hand and poked Gibbs in the chest. "I think ye and the crew drank it all and yer just blamin' it all on me to cover up fer yourselves!" He growled, narrowing his eyes. "Is that it?"

Gibbs shook his head opening his mouth to explain but was cut off. "Sir I-"

"Oi, I know what happened to the rum! Elizabeth burned it all! Master Gibbs I want you to bring Miss Swann in here _immediately_ so I can give her a stern talkin' to. She's got to…learn to stop burnin' all me rum!" He said, staggering back towards his desk and sitting down again, nearly tipping over in his chair.

"Miss Swann isn't here anymore, Capt'n."

"What?" Jack asked, face going pale.

"She's gone."

Jack stared at Gibbs as if he were lying, then rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet again. "Get out of me way." He said, shoving past his first mate and stumbling towards the door. He jerked it open and walked outside, looking down on deck where the crew was. "Lizabeth'!" he shouted, walking towards the stairs but freezing in his tracks once he noticed the crew giving him odd looks. "What in bloody hell are ye all lookin' at me like that for? Where's the girl?" Jack questioned, hearing the crew go silent.

"You dropped her off at Port Royal just a few days ago, Captain." One of them pointed out.

Jack's eyes seem to get a dull look to them, before he vigorously shook his head and rushed down the stairs, almost tripping in his haste. "No, no, no! Where is she _really_?! And the next time I hear, 'You dropped her off at Port Royal just a few days ago, Captain', I'll blow yer brains out!" He warned, having mocked the crew member in a high-pitched voice while repeated what he said. "She's around here somewhere, I know it." He grumbled to himself, walking down to the galley. He was starting to feel light headed as if he were about to pass out, but after unsuccessfully checking the galley he spun around and checked the kitchen. Then the crow's nest, and the spare quarters, the helm, the deck again, and then before he knew it he was trudging back in to his quarters.

There was a dull, throbbing pain in his chest at the sudden realization that Elizabeth was gone. He _had_ dropped her off…he remembered her shouting his name and then he recalled her running on the dock but Will had caught her. His blood boiled at the thought…but maybe…maybe she was better off there? Safer at least. A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he passed his hand over his face before thumping his fist on his desk in his anger. Jack couldn't go back there and get her now. He _refused_. She was probably getting over him anyway and ready to move on to the next man in line.

Jack walked towards his bed, collapsing on top of it and pulling one of the pillows towards him and covering his face with it. "Oh, God Lizzie…I should've ne'er let ye go."

* * *

Elizabeth sat in the dining room, feeling eyes watching her as she slowly started to eat. She rested her chin in her hand while poking around at the food on her plate with her fork. It was like the spark inside of her died and things were just boring and plain all the time now. She found no motivation to do anything anymore.

"Oh, Elizabeth…you have no idea how glad we are that you're deciding to marry William again." Her father said proudly, reaching up and adjusting the napkin tucked in to the collar of his shirt.

The maid had been walking by to pick up a few dirty plates from the table and scoffed at what the Governor said, she knew where Elizabeth truly belonged, and it wasn't here. She gave Elizabeth an apologetic look while taking her plate for her, noticing that she wasn't eating anyway. She wished there was some way to make things easier on her, but nothing came to mind.

Elizabeth didn't answer her father, in fact it was like she didn't even hear him. She simply pretended to ignore every word that came out of his mouth. All he ever talked about was how happy he was that she made the decisions she did…he never bothered to ask her what was wrong he simply smiled and was pleased with her even though she wasn't pleased with herself. It frustrated her to no end and made her want to run away, in fact the only thing keeping her that was knowing that she had no place to go. Deciding to marry Will wasn't the best choice she could have made, but she had felt so vulnerable and weak. Jack had just tossed her away and made her feel unwanted…Will wanted her so she gave in to him. And if Jack didn't come back after three months, then he didn't deserve her anyway.

"Elizabeth? Darling, are you alright?" Her father questioned, leaning forward in his chair slightly and putting his fork down.

"Yes, I'm fine." She mumbled, shrugging there wasn't much she could tell him without him getting angry for her running away with a pirate in the first place.

"Well…you rarely eat and it's like you're a whole different person since you got back. You barely stay at the table for more than five minutes without asking to be excused." He said, resting his chin in his hand and his elbow on the table.

"Really, I'm fine. And thanks for reminding me, can I be excused?" She asked, then without even waiting for an answer she pushed herself backwards and stood up from the chair. She grabbed her jacket off the hook and slid on her boots before walking out the door and through the gate that led to her home. Elizabeth looked around at the people on the streets, spotting a few drunk men and walking past them, hearing them whistle at her. Her eyes narrowed in rage and she spun around and reached for her sword…but was left standing there in humiliation at realizing her sword wasn't on her belt. She pouted and simply gave them a murderous glare, then spun around and headed towards the docks. "Idiots." She grumbled under her breath, shoving her hands in her pockets and sulking to herself.

Elizabeth stopped in front of Will's blacksmith shop, glaring at the door with pure hate. Jack _would_ come back for her, he _had_ to. He had said he loved her, and when you love someone you can't just drop them off and leave without coming back. If he really loved her…but he was a pirate, and she didn't know if she could trust what he had said or not. But since she didn't know whether or not Jack would come back, she wanted more time than just three months to decide. So she had gone to Will to tell him that was what she needed. Hesitantly, she rose her hand up and knocked on the door, then stared down at the steps beneath her and scuffed her boot against them while trying to think of something to say.

When Will opened the door a huge smile lit up his face and he embraced Elizabeth in a tight hug. "Good morning, Elizabeth." He said, lifting her chin with his fingers and staring down at her. "You look beautiful." He whispered after a long moment of staring at her.

Elizabeth blushed, and hesitantly put her arms around him and patted his back though really didn't want to touch him. She was still in love with a pirate and now she had to find a way to tell him she needed more time. "Will I've got to tell-"

"I can't wait until these three months are up. It's going to be great, we'll actually get married this time, settle down, have a few kids and live happily ever after." He sighed dreamily, brushing some golden strands of hair back from her face. He narrowed his eyes curiously at realizing she had been about to tell him something. "Oh, what is it?"

She sucked in a breath, after hearing everything he said…she couldn't tell him. It'd break his heart to make him wait and it'd put more questions in his head about if she really loved him or not. Elizabeth just didn't want to hurt him anymore. She brought her hand up and rubbed the back of her neck while giving a sheepish smile, "I just wanted to say hello." She lied, putting on an innocent face.

"Well that was sweet of you." Will whispered, suddenly leaning towards her, lips getting closer to hers.

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she brought up her finger and placed it on his lips to stop him. "I'd stay but I really should be going. My father needs me, he told me not to be gone long and I think I'm late!" She lied, making up an excuse, _any_ excuse to get out of kissing him. She didn't think his kisses would be anything like Jack's and she really didn't feel like finding out. Then she suddenly spun around and rushed off before he had the chance to grab her.

While walking back home she stopped at the docks and just stood there, staring at them. Her head was filled with the memory of Jack's voice which sent shivers up her spine. Tears almost blurred her vision but she rubbed at her face with the sleeves of her shirt and sniffed a few times. She slowly made her way towards them and walked to the end of one of them, gazing down at the sparkling water of the ocean. With a sigh she pulled off her boots and dropped them to the side, then sat down at the end of the dock. Elizabeth dangled her legs in the cool water while swaying them back and forth and staring out at the horizon. She was hoping to see the black sails on the horizon, hoping that Jack realized what a fool he had been and was turning around to come back for her now.

* * *

_Two and a half months later_

"Drink up, me hearties yo ho…" Jack mumbled under his breath, holding a bottle of rum to his chest and his compass in the other. He had been singing a song, well…their song. The one Elizabeth taught to him back on that island his crew marooned him on all those years ago. The rum made a buzzing sort of fiery feeling course through his veins. But no matter how much he drank he never was quite able to drink Elizabeth out of his system. It seemed that everything was going wrong! After dropping Elizabeth off at Port Royal, he had never managed to catch up with Barbossa and take back the Pearl. In fact his hopes of finding her where growing more slim each day. He flipped open his compass and watched the needle spin around, figuring it would land on another bottle of rum like it had been doing for the past three weeks, so he rolled his eyes and began to reach for another one until it suddenly spun in another direction and stopped. He narrowed his eyes in curiosity and slowly rose up from his chair, beginning to walk out of his cabin and follow the little red arrow until he came to the railing of the Pearl. He was left staring out at sea, wondering what it was that his compass was pointing to…maybe the Pearl was in that direction?

His eyes widened, "Port Royal." He mumbled to himself. The compass wasn't pointing to the Pearl! It was pointing to Elizabeth! But…what if he was too late? What if he went back and found her in love with someone else? What if she refused to even look at him for doing such a terrible thing to her? He felt his heart ache just at the thought. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle it if she pushed him away, but that was a risk he was willing to take.

Jack strode up towards the helm and pushed his hat down on his head after pushing Gibbs aside and quickly turning the wheel in the opposite direction. "M' comin' to get you Lizzie…hope it's not to late." He whispered under his breath, eyes dead set on the horizon.

* * *

Elizabeth grumbled under her breath as one of the maids held a wedding dress up to her, seeing how it would look. "Why are we doing this now?" She questioned. "The wedding is still two weeks away." She grumbled, pushing the dress away.

The maid sighed, "Yes I know…wait? Does that mean you're giving in? I thought you loved that Jack Sparrow, fellow?" She questioned, biting her lip.

"Yeah…well, I _thought_ he loved me." Elizabeth said, cursing under her breath. "I deserve someone who loves me, don't I?"

"Yes. But-"

"Then I'm marrying Will. I refuse to let Jack affect my life this badly. He completely ruined me and he doesn't even care! He hasn't come back for two whole months! He's been out there without me!" She said, tears filling up in her eyes as she suddenly ripped the wedding dress out of the maid's hands and threw it on to the ground.

The maid had learned to be patient with Elizabeth, everyone had. She had been going through major mood swings lately…or ever since Jack left.

"But I thought you said that he told you he loved you!" The maid said quickly, trying to reason with her.

Elizabeth laughed bitterly and turned away from her, staring out the window. "What can you expect? He's a pirate."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N; Thanks for the wonderful reviews everyone! I really appreciate it! (: This chapter skips time twice, just because if I actually wrote the two weeks left before the wedding…all you'd read about is Elizabeth sulking. You'll be able to tell when it does though. xD Poor, Lizzie. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

The two weeks before the wedding was starting to get shorter and shorter, Elizabeth had given up all hope that Jack would come back for her. She walked around as if she weren't even alive…but was just sort of there. She'd talk but there was no emotion in her voice and she'd smile but it was always forced and never reached her eyes. She felt a dull aching feeling inside of her, like something was missing, and indeed something was, Jack.

The rain drizzled down from the dark, gloomy clouds that hung low in the sky over Port Royal. It was quiet in the house because her father was gone to a meeting and Elizabeth was sitting at her desk and writing slowly on a piece of paper.

_Jack,_

_Why'd you leave me? I didn't do anything wrong! I've been in tons of fights and battles! I'm a pirate, you don't expect me to get wounded? It doesn't matter anyway, you left…I gave you three months to come back and you didn't. I thought for sure that you wouldn't leave me like that. I know we didn't ever get close but you said you loved me and I said I loved you! That's worth something isn't it? Well, I'm marrying Will now. It's probably the biggest mistake I'll ever make. Don't ever come back to Port Royal, because when you do I'm going to leave Will again. I'd leave him for you any day, Jack, but I don't want to hurt him again…so it'd be best to just stay away. And just know that I'll be dreaming that Will was you, I always will. Goodbye, Jack._

_Love,_

_Elizabeth_

A few tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped onto the paper while rolling it up and sticking it in a little bottle before putting a cork in it. She knew it wouldn't ever make it to Jack but it was just her way of letting him go. She couldn't marry someone while she was in love with someone else! She'd be miserable for her whole life, so she had to try and let him go. Elizabeth pulled on her boots but left her jacket on the hook while going downstairs, clutching the bottle tightly in her hand. She sniffed a little and opened the door, shutting it quietly behind her and beginning to walk down towards the docks. A cold shiver ran up her spine when the rain started to fall down upon her, making her clothes damp. She hadn't seen Will in a few days, but she'd constantly have a bouquet of flowers or a note left for her from him, telling her how he was so excited for their wedding. Elizabeth just threw all of that away, it made her sick to her stomach to look or even think about Will. It was like there was a permanent frown on her face all the time.

She reached the docks and walked to the end of one of them, listening to her boots thud against the wood with each step she took. Her eyes scanned the ocean while giving a slow sigh, watching the raindrops hit the water, until she saw a ship with black sails! Her eyes widened for a moment and the bottle fell out of her hand, though it didn't break and just rolled around before stopping. Elizabeth's heart beat faster than ever before and she felt like she was about to fall over. "It's Jack! It's Jack! He's come back for me! I knew he would!" She squealed happily, hugging herself and smiling brightly while staring out at the ship. What other ship had black sails besides the Black Pearl? Certainly not one that she could name! Elizabeth spun around and grabbed a man walking by walking on the street in a fit of excitement, "He's coming back for me!" She said, giggling.

"Ma'am-" The man said, shocked. He flinched as she started to shake him a little while speaking, though realized what she meant. "Who's coming back for you? I don't see anything out there." He told her, narrowing his eyes.

"Jack is coming back for me, don't you see that-…" Elizabeth turned around and stared out at the sea, eyes going dull at realizing that there was nothing there. "Ship." She mumbled after a moment. There was no black sails, no ship, no Jack. "I-it was just there." She whispered, blinking and raising her hand to cover her mouth. "I saw it, I swear I did." She murmured, biting her lip.

The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and patted her shoulder, feeling sorry for her as he sighed and started to walk past her while shoving his hands in his pockets.

Elizabeth didn't look back at him, she blinked her eyes and rubbed at them to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. She had felt so excited and relieved! Elizabeth had wanted to run around and tell everyone, she wanted to throw Will's flowers at his feet and stomp all over them. And now she felt the complete opposite, her mind _had_ been playing tricks on her, but it wasn't about the Pearl _not_ being there. It had led her to believe that it _was_ there. In a sudden burst of emotion she bent over and grabbed the bottle in her hand that had her note inside of it and picked it up before tossing it as far out to sea as she could. "Stupid Jack." She hissed through clenched teeth. "I hope you never come back! Good riddance." She snapped, then spun around and started to walk off but stopped and glanced over her shoulder at the bottle starting to float away. Elizabeth didn't mean that, she knew it. She just didn't want to admit it to herself that one man had the power to crush and ruin her so badly.

* * *

"Hold still, Elizabeth!" The maid smirked, tugging on the strings to her corset and pulling them tighter. 

"I _hate_ corsets, Marie." Elizabeth said to her, narrowing her eyes and sucking in a breath as the corset tightened around her.

"I know, I know." Marie giggled, rolling her eyes and then tying it in the back. "You don't have to wear it for that long, maybe Will can take it off for you." She teased.

"Marie!" Elizabeth laughed, staring at her with wide eyes. Even though she was just a maid she had become her best friend. Seeing there was nobody else around to talk to besides Will. "I think I'm capable of undressing myself, thank you very much." She said with a shake of her head. Tomorrow was the wedding day. It had come so fast! She tried not to even think about a certain Captain that had ripped her heart out and stomped all over it. She didn't show emotion anymore anyway, not about that at least. "And I still think it's too early to be trying this stupid thing on." Elizabeth scowled as she stepped in to her wedding dress and had Marie tie up the back. 

"Oh, you look beautiful, Elizabeth." Marie whispered, ignoring her complaining about trying the dress on. "But if it's the night before your wedding, I'm pretty sure that it's not too early." She laughed, pulling Elizabeth's back and smiled admiringly at her while they both gazed into the mirror. "Will is a good man, you shouldn't feel that bad about marrying him." She said with a shrug of her shoulders and then walked towards the door. "Excuse me for a moment Elizabeth." She said with a nod and then disappeared out the door, having forgotten something downstairs.

Elizabeth stared at herself in the mirror with a disbelieving gaze. She was getting ready to marry Will for the third time, maybe it was fate that something always stopped them from doing so. Maybe they just weren't meant for each other and Will had to learn that! Why was it so hard for him to understand? She touched her hair for a moment and then forced a smile, pretending to address herself to one of her guests at her wedding. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Elizabeth…Turner." She said in distaste with a frown, at realizing she was actually about to marry the _whelp_ and Jack hadn't returned for her she nearly burst out in to tears. But she bit her lip and forced another smile, "Hi, I'm Mrs. Elizabeth Sparrow." She said sweetly, eyes lighting up with adoration at the sound of that name.

Just then Marie came back into the room, holding a small box in her hand. "Come here, Elizabeth." She whispered, smiling slightly.

Elizabeth walked towards her and stared down at the box, eyes curious as they looked back up to hers. "What's that?"

"It's a wedding gift I got for you, it was my mother's. I want you to have it." She whispered, pulling a necklace out from the small box. It was silver with an emerald dangling at the bottom. "It always reminded me of the sea for some reason and I know how much you love it." She beamed, clipping it around her neck and then taking a step back to smile at her. "You look great!" She said in excitement.

"Aw, I can't accept this! It was your mother's! I refuse to take it from you." Elizabeth said, starting to reach back and take it off but Marie stopped her. "No, I don't want it. I won't take it back, besides, it just brings me bad memories anyway. And it looks much better on you." She teased with a shake of her head. "Well, get some rest Elizabeth, tomorrow's the big day."

She felt her stomach churn and looked away uneasily, above everything else she was extremely disappointed in Jack. He had proved her wrong in thinking he would come back to get her, and tomorrow she was marrying Will. She'd give anything to have him back! It just wasn't fair! She had never done anything wrong! Why did she deserve to feel so much pain and hurt? There was absolutely no hope left for her at all.

* * *

"Prepare to weigh anchor!" Gibbs shouted, scurrying about the deck as Jack stood at the helm. Finally they had made it to Port Royal, but something seemed odd about the place now. There were no people on the streets, where were all of they? He didn't have a problem with the navy not in sight, that was a relief. He was wanted in Port Royal for so many things.

Jack was becoming anxious as they docked and he ran down the gangplank and stopped to look around for a moment. He had no idea where to look, what if she had left Port Royal? He shook his head and then heard soft music playing, while raising one of his eyebrows he walked down further and peered around a building, gasping at what he saw. People were seated in chairs, there was a huge cake on a table, the music was playing, there was a carpet rolled out for people to walk on…someone was getting married. Jack blinked, then spun around, immediately starting towards Will's blacksmith shop. That whelp had better be in there and making swords or working, something!

When he got there, he cautiously opened the door, heart racing with uneasiness. A pang of hurt flooded through him when he saw Will adjusting his collar and grabbing a small box off his table. Instantly he knew that Will wasn't marrying just anyone, he was marrying Elizabeth. _His_ Elizabeth. Jack growled under his breath, then pulled his sword from his belt and held it upwards while walking towards him, grinning all the while. "So tell me, William. Who's the lucky lass that gets to marry ye?"

"Jack?" Will said bitterly, "What are_ you_ doing here? Come back to steal Elizabeth away again? Well you can't. She's mine now." Will told him smugly. 

Jack narrowed his eyes, tightening his hand around the hilt of his sword and raising it to Will's throat after pushing him back against the wall. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Jack said, eyes flashing mischievously. Clearly he had some sort of plan worked out in his head, which would explain the devilish grin on his face.

* * *

Elizabeth wiped her tears away while looking in the mirror one last time. Will was probably waiting for her again, she could hear the music playing and the soft murmurs of people talking, waiting for her to walk out there. Maybe some of them were wondering if she'd actually show up this time or not. She rolled her eyes, this wasn't what she wanted. She knew it, but she'd go along with it anyway. There wasn't anyone else for her, so why not?

With a deep sigh, she straightened out her dress and glanced at the mirror one last time before heading out the door. When she got outside people turned around in their seats and looked at her while her father had a delighted smile on his face and was obviously proud of her for making the right decision. Her eyes moved to Will, who was standing at the end of the carpet with his hat pulled down to cover his face and his hands folded in front of him. She winced inwardly, desperately wanting to turn in run. In fact she stopped walking for a moment and people stared wordlessly at her, but she realized what she was doing and continued towards him, looking ashamed. Her steps were slow and it took awhile for her to reach Will, she never even looked at him while the priest began to talk. She didn't want to be Elizabeth Turner!

It was awkward standing beside him, she couldn't even stand still! She almost wanted to tell the priest to stop and tell Will that she couldn't marry him, but just bit her lip and let him continue to speak. 

"Do you, William Turner, take Elizabeth Swann to be your wedded wife? In sickness and in health, until death do you part?" The priest said, staring down at the book in his hand and adjusting his glasses while glancing up to look at him.

"I do."

He nodded and then turned to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth Swann, do you take William Turner to be your wedded wife? In sickness and in health, until death do you part?" He asked.

A pained look washed over her face and she even reached her hand up to wipe a few tears away, "I…do." She mumbled, stifling a sob.

"You may kiss the bride." The priest said, looking at Elizabeth curiously and taking a step back while shutting his book.

Elizabeth sighed and slowly lifted her eyes to look at Will. When she did she felt like her heart had suddenly stopped and she stood there, eyes wide and full of tears. Her body started to tingle and she began to wonder if this was all just a dream. The amount of confusion running through her was tremendous and almost unbearable. Simply because the man wearing the suit and the hat wasn't Will. He had his hair tucked under the hat and now she knew he had held it down over his face to hide it from everyone else. This had to be a dream. "Jack?" She whispered, lips trembling as he grew closer to her and brushed his finger along her jaw while smiling at her, making her heart skip a beat.

"Ello' love." 


End file.
